Challenging the Challenger
by Shockeye7665
Summary: March 25th, 1995. Belka begins the invasion of it's neighbours. But the first Belkan strike, comes not from the land or the air, but from the sea, where Belkan U-Boats launch their first strike against the Osean Navy. One Shot.


**Disclaimer: Ace Combat does not belong to me. It belongs to it's respective owners, namely Bandai Namco Entertainment.**

* * *

 _Bridge, Type 209 class Unterseeboot U-3891, currently on patrol within the Atlantic Ocean, Planet Earth_.  
 _March 24th, 1995_.

"Korvettenkapitän?"

Korvettenkapitän Franz Peukert, commanding officer of the Type 209 U-Boat _U-3891_ , diverted his attention over from his observations of the charts of the Atlantic Ocean, to see Oberleutnant Michael Naumann, standing to the side, looking a bit anxious.

"Yes, Oberleutnant?"  
"You have a message directly from Nordtor. Encoded Anton-A. It's labelled for your eyes only".  
Frowning, Franz reckoned that it must have been very important to encode the message as Anton-A, which was the highest level of encryption possible. In fact, that level encryption, was only meant for active military operations, or even wartime...  
Wondering what was going on and what on earth those idiots at the Marineleitung were getting up to, all the back back at Nordtor, Franz said simply "I'll take it in my quarters. Kapitänleutnant?"

The First Watch Officer, Kapitänleutnant Wolfgang Schiffer, who was leaning against the undeployed periscope, immediately snapped his head over to look at Franz, his friend ever since their first deployment on _U-3118_ , way back in 1975.  
"Sir?"  
"Take over for the moment. I'll be in my quarters".

 _To: Korvettenkapitän Franz Peukert, Commanding Officer, U-3891._  
 _From: Vizeadmiral Albert Georg von Unterberger, Befehlshaber der Unterseeboote._  
 _Subject: New Objective for the Evening_.

 _Good evening, Korvettenkapitän._

 _As if you have not been keeping up with recent news, the situation over the rights to Area B7R still have not progressed to our satisfaction._

 _Over the last week, we have been preparing for a resolution to the dispute, and the Belkan Navy is one of the many avenues in which we will achieve it._

 _You are therefore, to head to Rendezvous Point Dora, where you'll meet the Njord, and Unterseeboots U-4019, U-3968, U-3895 and U-3997. Once you arrive at the rendezvous point, at no later than 2155 hours, you are to attend the briefing at 2300 hours on your next assignment_.

 _Signed_ ,  
 _Vizeadmiral_ _Albert Georg von Unterberger,_ _Befehlshaber der Unterseeboote.  
_

Upon finishing reading the message, Franz pondered over the implications that the Vizeadmiral was implying.  
He did know that after the discovery of underground natural resources in Area B7R by a group of South African, Usean, Sarrotoan and Nordennavician geologists, country after country just seemed to want a slice of the pie.  
Firstly, Belka laid claim, then Sapin and Ustio stated that the resources also crossed into their borders, meaning that the resources within their borders were under their jurdistiction. But then Osea joined in.  
And thus, began some sort of diplomatic rows that just seemed to have no intention of cooling down.

But with the implication that the Belkans were preparing for a resolution that would solve the dispute in Area B7R, an resolution that Franz added, including sending highly encoded messages to Belkan submarines all the way over in the Atlantic, he couldn't help but wonder,  
' _Is our country preparing to invade? And if so, how is the Belkan Navy going to make a meaningful contribution?_ '

It was no secret that across the world, and even within Belka's military itself, the Belkan Navy was considered by many, to be the 'black sheep' of the Belkan Armed Forces, often sidelined to be the last in priority whenever Belka's military got the funding to expand.  
Due to this, Belka did not have much of a modern naval fleet to speak off, and did not receive much that would allow them to acquire a modern naval fleet.

Much of Belka's heavy ships, battleships, battlecruisers and heavy cruisers, still dated right back from the late 30s and early 40s, heck, even some of their ships still originated right down to the 1910s!  
Hence, the only modern surface ships within the Belkan Navy were mainly light cruisers, destroyers, frigates, corvettes, missile boats and Schnellboats, a huge majority of them having been purchased from Yuktobania after the Osean arms embargo in the 70s.  
Belka did have two aircraft carriers, the Graf Grebel class aircraft carriers Njord and Skadi, which were heavily refitted and updated with a displacement of around 48,000 tonnes and a merger air arm of 38 aircraft, but they were completely outclassed and outnumbered by Osea's many supercarriers and their naval air wings of 90 aircraft.

But however, Franz knew that Belka's navy still had two ace cards that they could use to play in any opening strike.  
One was the Unterseebootwaffe, Belka's submarine arm, which had 27 Type 205, 31 Type 206, 45 Type 209, 24 Foxtrot class, 19 Tango class and 9 Kilo class diesel electric attack submarines, and 7 Victor class, 10 Alfa class, 8 Sierra class and 7 Akula class nuclear attack submarines.  
This put around 187 submarines in total, at Belka's disposal.

The second ace card was Belka's naval aviation arm, the Marinefliegerkommando, and their shore-based aircraft, which could provide a hard, significant blow to the Osean Navy.  
Supporting the F-104G Starfighter maritime strike fighters, and the Su-22M4K fighter-bombers, were Il-28 Beagle torpedo bombers/anti-submarine aircraft, Breguet Atlantic long-range maritime reconnaissance and patrol, anti-submarine, electronic intelligence and signal intelligence aircraft, Dornier Do 28 and Dornier Do 228 maritime reconnaissance and patrol aircraft, Transall C-160 tanker aircraft, as well as Westland Lynx Mk.88 and Westland Sea King Mk.41 anti-surface attack, anti-submarine and search and rescue helicopters.

And of course, despite being outclassed and outnumbered, the two Graf Grebel carriers and their Trägergeschwader of 12 MiG-29T multi-role fighters (MiG-29Ks, the carrier based version of the MiG-29M, modified to be launched from catapults, brought in from Yuktobania to replace Belka's aging F-4JT Phantoms in the role of carrier fighters), 11 Dassault-Breguet Super Étendard maritime strike aircraft, 3 Grumman S-2E Tracker anti-submarine aircraft, 4 Fairey Gannet AEW.3 airborne early warning aircraft, 1 Grumman C-1A Trader carrier on-board delivery aircraft and 7 Westland Sea King Mk.41 anti-submarine warfare/search and rescue helicopter, could pack a punch where it needed to if necessary.

Looking at the cloak in his quarters, Franz cursed.  
It was 2140 hours.  
They needed to make a move if they were to reach the _Njord_ by 2155 hours.

* * *

 _Type 209 class Unterseeboot U-3891_ _, Rendezvous Point Dora, 27 nautical miles Northeast of Adamas Island, Atlantic Ocean, Planet Earth_.  
 _March 24th, 1995_.

Surfacing, Franz waited for around three minutes, before the submarine settled on the surface of the Atlantic, and he could open the hatch on the conning tower to exit.

And as soon as the hatch was opened, he could smell the fresh scent of saltwater through his nostrils as he climbed up on the observation platform and saw before him, the massive aircraft carrier right alongside the submarine.

A gangplank then connected onto the conning tower, and Franz was greeted by an Leutnant, who said that he had instructions for the First Watch Officer (who would take command of the U-Boat while he was off on the _Njord_ ) to submerge _U-3891_ , and conduct a patrol with _U-3895_ and _U-3997_.

Even though quite unusual procedure in this case, Franz let the Leutnant go on ahead, and climbed up the gangplank, where another odd thing was apparent, in which he could not hear any sounds of jet aircraft on the _Njord_ , which meant that all aircraft were stowed away.  
 _Quite unusual. Unless there's bad weather necessitating a halt to flight ops, but the forecast didn't say anything of the sort. So why stow away the aircraft?_ , thought a now puzzled Franz.

Reaching the top of the gangplank, and climbing onto the Njord itself, Franz saluted the Kapitän of the _Njord_ , Kapitän-zur-See Friedrich Veiel, who was waiting for him, and soon returned the salute offered by Franz, before greeting him, "Ah, Korvettenkapitän Peukert! Welcome aboard the _Njord_. Admiral Karl Schierokauer has been expecting you".

This was news to Franz, that Vizeadmiral Karl Schierokauer, the Fleet Commander, was onboard the _Njord_ , despite the fact that he had last seen him in Dinsmark before _U-3891_ even left port, let alone the fact that he got a promotion.  
"Wait, Admiral Schierokauer?"  
"Yes, Korvettenkapitän. Promoted just yesterday by the Chairman himself. Come, this way".

* * *

 _Graf Grebel class aircraft carrier Njord_ _, Rendezvous Point Dora, 27 nautical miles Northeast of Adamas Island, Atlantic Ocean, Planet Earth_.  
 _March 24th, 1995_.

In the briefing room on board the _Njord_ , the room just seemed to be packed with senior naval officers, including the four other Kapitäns of the U-Boats, Fregattenkapitän Gunther Krause, Kapitänleutnants' Christian Salcher, Josef Rowohlt and Helmuth Escherich.

As Franz continued to make small talk amongst his fellow U-Boat captains, the door to the briefing room opened.

"ACHTUNG!"

Everyone in the room shot up to attention and in came the Vizeadmiral, Karl Schierokauer, himself, followed by Kapitän-zur-See Friedrich Veiel and a bunch of naval officers in attendance.

Schierokauer waved everyone down, "At ease, gentlemen. Now, as for why we're here. I am here to tell you that our esteemed Party Chairman, Waldemarr Rald himself, has issued the orders to commence Fall Schwartz, the invasion of our neighbouring countries and our former territories. Unternehmen Frühling will be first, a simultaneous offensive, against both Fato, Gebet and Recta, while Unternehmen Weissbaum will follow afterwards, against Ustio, then Unternehmen Seeadler will launch against Osea and Unternehmen Hochebene against Sapin, again all simultaneously.  
As for what our part will play into this, I turn over to our friends over in Naval Intelligence. LIGHTS!"

The lights were turned off and a projector in the back lit up against the wall towards a now extended projection screen.

And thus, as Schierokauer discreetly headed off to the side of the room, the briefing began with a Oberleutnant coming up besides the projection screen, which now displayed a map of the Oured Bay, Sapin, the Futuro Canal and the Spring Sea, along with photos of four Osean carriers of various classes.

"Evening. The Belkan Navy has been given the task of eliminating the Osean Navy as a fighting power. We are to target the most formidable asset in the Osean Navy. Their supercarriers and battle groups. If we can eliminate the Osean Navy carriers, or at least put them out of action for the rest of the war, we have the chance of helping the offensives succeed.  
Now, currently, the Osean Navy has around 13 aircraft carriers in service, of four different classes, spread out across the world. Our reconnaissance satellites and intelligence operatives have managed to pin down the locations of their carriers. So, while you'll be given your assigned targets later, I'll give you the rundown on their current locations".

A click and the briefing screen displayed a picture of an Hennessey class supercarrier. Franz knew what this ship was the _OFS Hampton_ , due to the Hampton's three sister ships, the _OFS Hennessey_ , _Tawagota_ and _Greensville_ , being currently decommissioned and out of service.

"The _OFS Hampton_ is the only Hennessey class aircraft carrier in service. However, it is currently in Bennion Naval Port within the Bennion Sea, currently making preparations for the eventual decommissioning ceremony. So since the only way into the Bennion Sea is through the Eaglin Straits, we estimate that while it is possible to destroy it, your chances of escape will be nil, for the Oseans will simply lock down the escape route and maximise the chances that you'll be detected. But I might also add that, while it is out of our reach for now, I do say that if the attack on the rest of the carriers is successful, the Oseans might even bring the Hampton back into active service. So there may be a chance for us to take it down in future".

The next picture, came onto a picture of a Constitution class carrier.  
"Due to the distance of these carriers, you'll not be getting the chance to go after them today, but I'll just be a bit thorough for future operations".

The Oberleutnant then coughed a bit before continuing on, "The four Constitution class carriers, however, well, the _OFS Constitution_ and her battle group are currently within the Pacific Ocean 23 nautical miles off the coast of Sarroto, having just finished their visit to Yukasokima. The _OFS Freedom_ and her battle group have just departed from Gracemeria today, heading East towards the Pacific. The _OFS Liberty_ is currently in drydock, at San Alberto on the West Coast of Osea. The _OFS Justice_ and her battle group are now currently transversing the Arctic ocean, enroute to take position near the Aulick Islands".

Then came the next picture, of the largest carrier of the lot. The infamous _OFS Challenger_ , Osea's first nuclear powered aircraft carrier.  
"The _Challenger_ and her battle group are currently within the center of Oured Bay, holding in reserve if Belka makes a move on Sapin or Ustio or Osea".

And finally, the picture came onto the newest supercarriers in Osea's fleet. The Hubert class carriers.  
" _OFS Hubert_ and her battle group are just 10 nautical miles off the coast of Sapin, just near the port of San Raúl, in order to assure the Sapinish that Osea will back them up in the event of hostilities".  
"The _OFS Barbet_ and her battle group are also on their way to Sapin, having just been recalled from a planned port visit to Aurelia".  
"The _OFS James Deckard_ is currently docked just outside Bana City".  
"The _OFS Alexander Robertson_ is currently holding position outside the entrance to the Futuro Canal. It's destruction is absolutely vital, if we are to utilise the Futuro Canal".  
"The _OFS Henry E. Callander_ is currently in the Albertian Straits, all the way in Usea, off the coast of Albertia".  
"The _OFS Falcon_ is in drydock within Port St. Hewlett".  
"The _OFS Kestrel_ , the most recently launched carrier, is now undergoing sea trials in the Spring Sea".  
"The _OFS Osprey_ , _Owl_ and _Eagle_ are currently under construction, while the _OFS Buzzard_ and _OFS Vulture_ are being laid down at Newport Sargo. So there's no chance of you getting them. But we have assurances, by our esteemed colleagues in the Air Force, that they will be amongst the list of targets in their bombing campaign".

And with finality, the Oberleutnant closed off with, "So, with this information in mind, we'll be currently giving you your assigned targets shortly afterwards. That's all", before nodding his head towards the back, and the projector turned dark, as the lights then came back on.  
The Oberleutnant then stepped off to the side, allowing Vizeadmiral Schierokauer to come in from the side and resume the briefing.

Thanking the Oberleutnant, Schierokauer turned to the Kapitäns, before coughing and then saying, "Around the world, the Belkan Navy has been regarded as the unwanted child of Belka's Armed Forces. But your mission, will soon change all that. Very soon, with your help, the Navy's 'black-sheep reputation' will no longer be the case, as long as your do our part and work to succeed in the task that has been given to us".

Then, he inclined his head to Gunther Krause, "Now, Fregattenkapitän Krause. _U-4019_ is to proceed towards San Raúl and sink the _Hubert_ ", before turning to Franz, "Korvettenkapitän Peukert. _U-3891_ is to head towards the center of Oured Bay, and sink the Osean carrier _Challenger_ ".

But before the Vizeadmiral was to continue on, Franz held his hand up.  
After Schierokauer nodded his head, Franz then asked on the rules of engagement.

Schierokauer then stated, "Avoid detection. Until you are within attack range of your target carriers. And I have to remind you that, while you are free to engage the other ships in the battle group, I must stress this very importantly. The carriers are the utmost priority. First and foremost. Ensure that you have achieved a successful attack on the carriers, before you even consider attacking it's escorts. However, I must also stress, that you are to avoid prolonged engagement with Osean naval forces".

As the Vizeadmiral finished that off, he then continued on, "Kapitänleutnant Salcher. You are to take _U-3895_ on patrol in the Spring Sea, and sink the _Barbet_ ", and "Kapitänleutnant Rowohlt. Head to Bana City, and sink the _Deckard_ ".

"Kapitänleutnant Escherich. You have the most important mission out of all your fellow Kapitäns. You are to take _U-3968_ towards the Futuro Canal and sink the _Robertson_. This will enable the Futuro Canal to be open to Belka, and thus, allow the _Njord_ to traverse through the canal..."

* * *

 _Bridge, Type 209 class Unterseeboot U-3891, Oured Bay, Planet Earth_. _  
March 25th, 1995_.

 _U-3891_ had arrived at the Njord, picked up Franz and thus began to head on it's way to Oured Bay.  
That was over 3 and a half hours ago, and now, Franz gave the order to go into silent running.

Immediately, all non-essential systems were shut down, the lights now changing into red, the crew given strict instructions to not raise their voices above whisper level, and the sub was now doing 9 knots, heading towards the last known heading and position of the _OFS Challenger_ and it's carrier battle group.

5 minutes in, and even though Franz was anxious for some sign of the Challenger, he dared not risk going to periscope death and exposing his periscope out this far in Osean waters.  
And the tension within _U-3891_ was on a knives' edge, as before it had been building and building.

Then, suddenly, the sonar operator whispered out, and immediately, everyone's focus was on him.  
"Korvettenkapitän, we have sonar contact. I repeat, we have sonar contact".

Heading over to him, Franz then looked on the sonar screen, and saw at the top of the screen.

Nodding his head, Franz then looked at his crew, and seeing the looks on their faces, whispered, "Keep your heads on a swivel. Don't get your hopes up, just yet. We need visual confirmation first. But still, load torpedoes 1 to 4. And quietly!"

Heading up to the sonar contact, there was a lot of waiting, until the sonar operator whispered that he could detect more than one sonar contact.  
More and more kept coming up, until the sonar operator stated that there were six sonar contacts.

Franz then waited for the submarine to get within 1000 meters of the furthest sonar contact, before whispering, "Alright, let's get up to periscope depth for a brief moment, and see what we've got".

Crewmen began the procedure to raise the submarine up, and Franz got to the rising periscope, waiting for it to stop rising.  
Then, when it did, he unfolded the handles and then put his eyes to the lenses.

Through the scope, he could see that it was nighttime. Perfect.  
But, he could also see 1 Thunderbolt class cruiser, 2 Gregory Bunson class destroyers, 1 Cabrera class destroyer and 2 Wallace Howard Williamson class frigates.  
And of course, the carrier itself, easily identifiable by it's unique bridge design.

Continuing to look around a bit more, Franz then noticed an odd thing as he recalled the sonar operator's words and remembered how many ships were out in front of him.  
"That's odd".  
Kapitänleutnant Schiffer asked his captain, "Begging your pardon, but what's odd, Korvettenkapitän?"  
"There's no submarines with this battle group".  
"Submarines?"  
"Yes. Osean carrier battle groups do have at least, one or two attack submarines with them. But there's no sign of any submarine at all here".

A pause, then a sigh before a shake of the head, and then, "But in any case, we've got the target. Take us below periscope depth, slowly. And get into attack position on Challenger".

Folding up the handles, the periscope lowered into the floor, before he called the torpedo room, "Are the torpedoes loaded?"  
"Yes sir. One to four. As you instructed".

A smile and, "Excellent", before asking, "How soon will we be in attack position?"  
"Four minutes, Korvettenkapitän".

* * *

 _Challenger class supercarrier OFS Challenger, Oured Bay, Planet Earth_.  
 _March 25th, 1995_.

On board the _OFS Challenger_ , the pride and joy of the Osean Navy, known for the motto of "First to Challenge, First to Defend, First to Strike", the whole ship was in a relaxed state, unaware of the danger coming towards them.

Rear Admiral Robert Curtis had stood down from General Quarters and ordered that all planes be stowed away on the Challenger, ready and waiting for the morning, despite the protests of Commander Sidney Norman Edmonds, the CAG, and the Challenger's Commanding Officer, Captain Giancarlo Armellino. And furthermore, he ordered that the November class attack submarine _OFS Sand Bay City_ , head out on patrol to the north-east of the battle group.  
His response to their protests that the ship should still be at full alert was simply, "Oh, nonsense. I'm pretty sure that this whole crisis with the Belkans will blow over in a few days, and all we'll need to do, is wait the word from the Hexagon, and we'll all go home".  
Worse of all, Curtis had gone to bed, and had given strict instructions that he was not to be awoken until 0700 hours, two minutes before flight operations began at 0702 hours.

But Captain Armellino was pretty certain that not being on high alert, would have serious repercussions, as he looked out of the bridge, watching the Thunderbolt class cruiser _OFS Svalinn_ , Gregory Bunson class destroyers _OFS Trout_ and _OFS Norman Parry_ , Cabrera class destroyer _OFS Virgil_ , and the Wallace Howard Williamson class frigates _OFS Eric O. Morrison_ and _OFS Laurence_.

Meanwhile, down within the carrier, in the Combat Information Center, an operator on the sonar set was eagerly awaiting for the end of his shift, thoroughly bored at looking at just plain nothing on his scope, when he noticed several bleeps on his sonar.

Looking closely at this, now more paying attention than ever, he soon joined the dots on the information being presented to him, and then shouted, "CIC, CIC, SONAR! TORPEDOES IN THE WATER!"

And immediately, the whole CIC threw into a panic, as the CIC Watch Officer rushed over to his console, muttering, "This better not be a joke...", before taking a look at the screen and seeing, in horror, three torpedoes making rapid progress towards the _Challenger_.

His next order was instant, "Sound General Quarters!"

But looking at the screen, he knew that there was no chance. The _Challenger_ was going to obtain hits, and their escorts were not in a position to do anything about it.

As soon as the alarm was pressed and everyone heard the sound, men everywhere on the _Challenger_ rushed down through the corridors towards their assigned positions, while some closed the bulkhead doors.

On the bridge, the Captain heard the alarm and went straight for the phone to the CIC, asking what was the meaning of the alarm.  
The Watch Officer gave his answer, and the Captain paled, only to hear Rear Admiral Curtis rushing his way onto the bridge, in a pissed off mood.  
"Captain Armellino! I told you I was not to be disturbed! Find whoever sounded that bloody alarm and NJP him for waking me up!"

Everywhere on the bridge, dumbfounded expressions were shared amongst the crew at the mere fact that the Admiral was unaware that they were under attack.

The Captain calmly said, "Sir, we have three torpedoes in the water, on an inbound heading...", before being cut off, "Torpedoes? Have you lost your mind, Captain? Some operator's probably just seen whales on his sonar. Now, get that sailor on report before I..."

Immediately, Captain Armellino had to take immediate action, as the Admiral definitely wasn't going to do so, and turned to the helmsman, ordering an increase in speed and a hard to port.

But then, a distant shout from a sailor, who was on lookout duty, screamed, and Captain Armellino instinctively knew that it was too late.

* * *

 _Bridge, Type 209 class Unterseeboot U-3891, Oured Bay, Planet Earth_. _  
March 25th, 1995_.

Franz watched as the first torpedo struck the _Challenger_ , fore of the bridge, just underneath an aircraft elevator.  
"Direct hit!"

A plume of water, flame and shrapnel erupted, destroying the elevator, and the explosion caused significant damage around the surrounding area.  
Then came the second torpedo, which impacted right underneath the bridge, the resulting explosion causing a massive plume of fire that engulfed the entire bridge.  
"Another direct hit!"

And the third torpedo impacted at the stern of the carrier, exactly right where the propellors were located.  
"That's a third hit!"

With that settled, Franz then issued his next order, to launch the final torpedo, out of the four that had already been launched.

Aiming it for the bow of the carrier, he was suddenly interrupted by the sonar operator, who called out, "Sir, we have an inbound frigate".

Turning the periscope around, he could see one Wallace Howard Williamson class frigate turning hard to starboard, and it was evident to Franz that it was on a direct course for him.  
Cursing, Franz then took a pause to breath, knowing that the frigate was still some considerable distance away, before the sonar operator called out again, "Korvettenkapitän, new contact, enemy submarine. November class!"

Franz then snapped his head from the periscope, heading over to the sonar set and seeing the November class submarine fast approaching his position from the east, whilst the frigate was coming right at them from the North-east.  
"Hmmmm, coming to avenge their fallen carrier? Well, they're too late".

Heading back to the periscope, he turned to Kapitänleutnant Schiffer, "Load two more torpedoes", before looking through the periscope again, and then aiming at the frigate, and firing the fourth torpedo.

Initially, he could see that it was still on a direct course for him, but as the torpedo progressed towards the frigate, Franz could see the frigate make a hard turn to port.

A few more minutes passed and Franz was muttering to himself, "Come on..., come on...", before the frigate, which had now turned to starboard, was suddenly struck by an explosion just a few meters off it's stern.

Kapitänleutnant Wolfgang Schiffer returned and asked if they hit the frigate.  
Franz shook his head, "No, but I do see that it's sustained damage along the stern. And oddly enough, I dare to say that it's slowing down. We must have struck the propellors".

The sonar operator then spoke up, "I can confer to that, Korvettenkapitän. There's no indication that even one propellor survived. However, the November class is still closing in..."  
Franz immediately glanced to Wolfgang and then issued his next orders, "Right then. Let's not overstay our welcome. Descend to 100 feet, increase speed, and proceed to the Futuro Canal. Navigator, I leave it to your discretion on how we proceed".

* * *

 _Graf Grebel class aircraft carrier Njord_ _, 30 miles south of the entrance to the Futuro Canal, Oured Bay, Planet Earth_. _  
March 25th, 1995_.

Admiral Karl Schierokauer watched out of the bridge as MiG-29Ts and Super Eterdards, having just made a strike mission against Osean targets near the Futuro Canal, returned to the carrier and began landing back on the carrier.

One by one, their pilots managed to land their craft on the carrier, catch their arresting hooks on the arrestor cables, and then quickly taxi accordingly to aircraft handlers on the deck.  
And even then, aircraft were still being brought up from the hangars by the elevators, and manoeuvred onto the catapults, in which they were checked over, before being launched.

Schierokauer continued watching as the men on the deck continued about their work in ensuring flight operations went smoothly, all in the service of the Fatherland, until he turned his head and saw _U-3891_ sailing alongside the _Njord_ , still seaworthy, but having sustained damage to it's conning tower. Crewmen were now crawling across the submarine, intent on at least, patching up the damage on the submarine with the tools at hand.

Footsteps came behind him, and the Admiral turned around, to see Korvettenkapitän Franz Peukert, slightly grimy, pale and sporting a beard that was slightly bigger than his stubble from the briefing just last night.  
Peukert saluted him, to which Schierokauer turned around and returned it, before addressing the U-Boat commander, "Ah, Peukert. Glad to have you back with us. I have heard very confusing and conflicting reports. I was wondering if you could clarify some for me".

Franz nodded, and asked, "What do you want to know, Admiral?"

"Well, I know that the Challenger has been sunk. That much I know. But did you also sunk other vessels?"  
"Only one, sir".  
An eyebrow rose, "One?"  
Franz awkwardly gave a slight smile, saying, "A November class submarine pursued us, for quite some time, after we hit the carrier and wounded a frigate. The captain of that submarine knew his trade and managed to damage us in the conning tower, but I manoeuvred him into shallow waters, in the South of Oured Bay, and fired one torpedo at him. It didn't sink him, but we could hear lots of internal explosions within and see lots of flotsam. As we made our escape, the submarine was nothing more than a wounded animal, delaying it's inevitable death. Then, we heard it crashing on the ocean floor on the sonar".

The Admiral took a moment, to fully take in the story, before he smiled and said, "Well done, Franz. Just simply well done!"  
Franz smiled at the Admiral's praise, until he asked, "So, do you have our next orders, sir?"

Schierokauer nodded, "Indeed I do. With the _Challenger_ sunk, I have also received word that the _Hubert_ , _Deckard_ and _Robertson_ have all been sunk. _Constitution_ , _Freedom_ and _Barbet_ did sustain torpedo damage, but managed to survive, and only two of our submarines managed to survive the attack. This means that the _Liberty_ is still operational however", before grimacing, "The _Liberty_ operational, means it is free to hinder all our operations in Sapin, as well as trap us within the Futuro Canal. As soon as your repairs are complete, Korvettenkapitän, you are to set sail and sink the _Liberty_. Think you are up for the task?"

Franz nodded his head, and said, "When we are finished with repairs, and once we have her location, it'll be as good as gone, Admiral".

* * *

 _Bunker 5, The Hexagon, South of Oured, Osean Federation_.  
 _March 25th, 1995_.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff, and senior military officers from the Osean Army, Osean Navy, Osean Air Force and the Osean Marine Corps, were now meeting within the most largest of the underground bunkers under the Hexagon, discussing on issues over the current defence against the Belkan military might that was swarming through Osea, when the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Kevin Powers, as well as the Secretary of Defence, Aaron McBride, entered the bunker and headed to their empty chairs.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and stood to attention when the two of them entered, followed by their aides, but went straight back to work when General Powers and Secretary McBride told them to sit back down.

And as soon as the two of them sat down, the meeting began in earnest, with the Secretary of Defence speaking first, "Gentlemen, I'm due to return to Oured at the end of this meeting, with a report to the President on our current military situation. But he wanted me to ask one question in particular, on how the hell the Belkans got the jump on our own Navy?!"  
The Secretary glared directly at the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Franklin Roscoe, who despite the glare, still held his composure, before he coughed and retorted, "Well, the Belkans all caught us by surprise by this offensive, Mr Secretary. The Navy was no different. In fact, we are sharing the full brunt of the task ahead of us, as my colleagues in the Army, the Air Force and the Marines will concur".

The Chief of Staffs to the Army and the Air Force, as well as the Marine Corps Commandant, all nodded their heads, and the Secretary of Defence replied, "That's all well and true, but I do have to ask, is it true about the losses to our carriers?"  
"Yes, 4 carriers sunk. 3 out of action. All we have left are now four carriers, and it doesn't give us much in the way of striking power and freedom of manoeuvrability".

McBride rose an eyebrow, asking, "What do you mean, Admiral, by manoeuvrability?"  
Even though McBride had past military experience, he had served as a Sergeant in the Osean Army and was still figuring out his new role as Secretary of Defence, the Admiral filled him in, "Well, Mr Secretary, if all our surviving four carriers were to join up and provide a striking force against Belka, that's one big target that the Belkans will focus their efforts on, in order to sink our carriers. More carriers would mean that we would have more carrier groups, to use to manoeuvre and support each other".

"So, what you're saying, Admiral, is we need more carriers, if we're to maintain a flexible striking force against Belka".  
A nod of the head, "Yes sir. We have the _Liberty_ still operational, just off the coast of Sapin, while the _Falcon_ is in drydock, and awaiting the word to deploy. And the _Kestrel_ isn't in active service yet. But we do have more carriers, that we can bring back into service".  
The Secretary asked, "I take that you have a solution, Admiral?"  
"We still have the Halfway class carriers and Hennessey class carriers still intact, just inactive, sitting in drydock. And the _Hampton_ is still awaiting decommissioning. If you can give the word, we can have these carriers back in active service".

McBride nodded his head before he asked, "How many can we bring back into service?"  
"Out of 3 Halfway carriers? All three. The _OFS Halfway_ , the _OFS Wellow Sea_ and the _OFS Crescents Sea_. With the Hennessey carriers, it's just a matter of bringing the _OFS Hennessey_ , _OFS Tawagota_ and _OFS Greensville_ out of drydock and into service, while all we do with the _OFS Hampton_ , is just delaying the decommissioning ceremony for a foreseeable time".  
The Secretary nodded his head, "A start, a start", before he asked, "What about the _Kestrel_?"

Roscoe rose an eyebrow, "The _Kestrel_? It's still undergoing sea trials right at this moment, Mr Secretary".  
"Where?"  
"In the Spring Sea".

"And what about the _Justice_?"  
"It's enroute to the Aulick Islands. There, it'll be in a position to launch strikes on Belka's northern coast, and maintain a force in being, to prevent the Belkan Navy in their Northern ports from moving against Northern Osea".  
Nodding his head, McBride stated, "The _Justice_ will stay around the islands, once it gets there, then. With a Osean carrier in place there, Belka will not set sail against Osea's northern shores, am I right in this?"

After receiving an acknowledgement from Admiral Roscoe, the Secretary of Defence then took a brief moment, looking off to the side before he said, "Admiral, the word is given. Reactivate the _Hennessey_ , _Tawagota_ , _Greensville_ , _Halfway_ , _Wellow Sea_ , _Crescents Sea_ , and commission the _Kestrel_ into active duty immediately. Bring in the _Callander_ from Usea. Delay the _Hampton_ 's decommissioning ceremony, have it prepare to move with all due haste and prepare to join it up with _Falcon_ , _Kestrel_ and the _Callander_. I want that strike force ready and heading straight for Oured Bay. Then, the _Liberty_ will move into reserve. In the meantime, I want the _Constitution_ , _Freedom_ and _Barbet_ repaired, around the clock".

As these orders were heard and readied to put into place by the Navy, the Secretary of Defence then moved onto the next topic, asking the Chief of Staff of the Army as well as General Powers in regards to the current status of the Belkan advance.

* * *

 **And thus, another Ace Combat One-Shot. I feel just so proud of completing this! :D**  
 **Even though I do say that I'm probably not very good at writing submarine warfare. I had originally planned for a scene in which U-3891 fights against the Osean submarine, but I couldn't get it to work, so I settled for a skip in time.  
I was more for naval surface warfare myself really, for I am a big fan of Douglas Reeman's books, as well as Alistar MacLean's HMS Ulysses, and of course, John Schettler's Kirov Saga. They're awesome books, I totally recommend checking them out.  
**

 **Halfway class carriers are based on the Midway class carriers.  
** **Hennessey class carriers are based on the Forrestal class carriers.  
** **Constitution class carriers are based on the Kitty Hawk class carriers.  
** **And the OFS Challenger is based on the USS Enterprise (CVN-65).** **  
** **Cabrera class destroyers are based on the Kidd class destroyers.  
** **Wallace Howard Williamson class frigates are based on the Oliver Hazard Perry class frigates.  
** **November City class attack submarines are based on the Los Angeles class.**

 **Graf Grebel class carriers are based on the Graf Zeppelin class aircraft carriers, but their refits are reminiscent of the refits of HMS Ark Royal and HMS Eagle during the 60s and 70s in order to operate the F-4 Phantom.**

 **Fato is based of Poland, Gebet is based of Hungary, Recta is based of the Czech Republic.**

 **Sarroto is based of Japan.**

 **Anyways,** **don't forget to leave a review whenever you can, and see you next time!**

 **(Update 11/5/18: Changed the name of the Svalinn class cruiser due to previously having described in 'Vipers in the Skies of Oured' that the Thunderbolt class destroyer is based on the Ticonderoga class cruiser, and instead changed the name of OFS Durendal to OFS Svalinn as a compromise)  
(Update 23/6/18: Changed the designation of the carrier based MiG-29K to the MiG-29T,** **and the F-4J to the F-4JT, as well as the designations of the S-2 Tracker and C-1 Trader. With the MiG-29 and the F-4, the T is meant to stand** **for Träger, which is German for Carrier, same with the Bf 109T that was meant to be on the Graf Zeppelin carrier. This change was because I came to realise that the MiG-29K is only meant to be launched from carriers with a ski-jump, and the Graf Grebel carriers in my story, have catapults, so I reckoned that the Belkans had the MiG-29K modified to Belkan standards to be able to be launched via catapult. As for the F-4J, I also applied a T to make it so that the Belkans modified it to operate from their carriers in the same way that the British did with their Phantoms in real life, in that their nose radomes had to fold in order to fit on the smaller carriers, and that the** **nose wheel extended in order to provide an increased take-off altitude from the shorter carriers)**


End file.
